When Hard Rock International reached out to Marti Nikko and DJ Drez, the dynamic husband and wife team who have made it their mission to share their love of music and yoga throughout the world, it was the perfect partnership that resulted in the creation of Rock Om, an in-room yoga experience that takes you on a musical journey as well as offers an opportunity to re-center and refocus.

Available to guests at Hard Rock International’s 24 hotels are their choice of three videos: “Zenith” features calming meditation and tranquil breathing exercises; “Zeppelin” directs guests to strike a pose and perspire to the beats and rhythm of high-energy Vinyasa flow; and “Zen” offers guests a chance to recharge their bodies and minds with the traditional movements of classic flow. Also available to guests is an in-room yoga kit featuring Manduka products, which can be ordered either prior to arrival, at check-in or during stays.

All three videos feature original music by DJ Drez, with choreography by Nikko. Nikko along with DJ Drez can be viewed in each video practicing all of the movements. In this interview, Nikko discusses her love of yoga, the collaboration with Hard Rock, and what makes Rock Om so unique and special.

Samantha Hunter: What does the practice of yoga represent to you? What purpose does it serve in your life?

Marti Nikko: Yoga is an opportunity to expand your understanding of this human experience – a process and way to connect more deeply to yourself and to other human beings. Yoga is a major life tool for me. It helps me to clear out clutter in not only the body, but the mind and heart. Even if things are only three percent better after a practice that I had to work hard to make happen, it is still very much worth that three percent.

SH: How long have you practiced yoga?

MN: I’ve practiced for about 18 years. I took my first class at a small local studio. I wasn’t even sure what it was or what I was doing but I knew after that first savasana that it was something special. It definitely took going back again and again to realize the true benefits and how positively it was blessing my life.

SH: Why did you feel it was important to introduce your husband to yoga and what was that experience like?

MN: My husband broke his neck as a skate boarder when he was young. As an adult he suffered from chronic residual pain from that injury mostly in the neck and shoulders. I knew that yoga might be a possible solution to bring some ease to the body. It took some pushing but he finally did agree. It helped! Life-changing to be real. The practice of yoga has really become part of who we are.

SH: How has yoga strengthened your relationship?

MN: Yoga teaches you to sit with the discomforts. It reminds you that life is a balance of all these human emotions and physical experiences. That no being is perfect, nor fixed. It teaches you how to be the observer, not only watching your partner but your own actions and reactions in the great dance of relationship. To remain awake to reality! In that, I have learned to be a little more patient, more compassionate and a better listener. As my husband says “the river stays clean by flowing.”

SH: Would you encourage women to practice yoga?

MN: I don’t know that I need to encourage more women to practice yoga. Although it evolved out of a male practice in India the majority of current day practitioners are female. Walk into any yoga studio anywhere and you will see woman dominate the room. I would like to see the practice be even more accessible to underserved communities that may even have the idea that it’s not for them. Yoga is for everybody! Not just the skinny white affluent female on the cover of your favorite yoga magazine.

SH: How did your partnership with Hard Rock to create Rock Om come about? Tell us about the experience of developing that program.

MN: Hard Rock tracked us down. Drez and I have been traveling the world teaching at various festivals, retreats and yoga studios. Drez got the call that Hard Rock wanted to bring yoga to their hotels and we loved the idea. I created the classes while Drez created the music. We are both musicians and yoga teachers. Mixing music with yoga has been something we have always done so this felt right at home. We wanted our classes to be fun yet still embody the deeper aspects of yoga. We also wanted the classes to be completely accessible to not just the seasoned practitioner, but the beginner.

SH: What in your opinion makes Rock Om so unique and special?

MN: To be honest…it’s us. We don’t teach your average fluffy or workout hotel yoga. We are real teachers and musicians who live this work daily. We have to really give it up to Hard Rock, who took a chance to hire real musicians that happen to teach really good yoga. It just worked out to be something unique and special and definitely not anything you can find at any other hotel.

SH: As a mother, how was yoga helped you?

MN: Loving kindness. Compassion. Joy. Equanimity… Shall I go on? Parenting is one of the most challenging and yet greatest pleasures of my life. To experience this level of love and at the same time having a piece of your heart that is living outside of your own body without regularly freaking out. All those sleepless nights with my new baby along with stewarding my 13-year-old, I need yoga’s tools to help me stay balanced. It truly helps me to stay clear and available for these two that are relying on me to help guide them on this path. I do that well when I am practicing regularly. Thank goodness for yoga! It definitely has made me a better parent. A better mother.

SH: What is your favorite style of yoga and why?

MN: The styles that have been most present in my personal practice have been Vinyasa yoga and Bhakti yoga. Vinyasa can be practiced both calmly and vigorously. You can adjust the asana practice for what is needed on that specific day. What has really helped me is the linking of breath with movement, which is the foundation of Vinyasa yoga. Yoga can’t always be about the physical practice / asana practice though it is what’s most popular. There will be times in one’s life that requires a different practice that steadies the mind and supports the heart. That’s where Bhakti yoga and meditation comes in. Chanting and learning mantras to focus and steady the mind and to support the heart can be just as powerful.

What is your morning ritual to cultivate clarity and grace (self care must do’s)?

Well technically there is no time for major self care when I first get up unless I were to wake up much earlier. I value my sleep so I choose not to. I have a family and my priority in the morning is getting my son ready and off to school. I do usually have to do some kind of practice to feel like me. Most mornings after school drop off it is an asana practice or a hike up a nearby mountain. Its simple and attainable and both are vehicles for the breath so I try not to stress myself with ideals of an even more romantic morning self care ritual.

Who do you believe is your spirit animal and why? (optional)

Hmmm. In all my years no one has ever asked me what my spirit animal is. I don’t give much thought to this either. I will say I am very much like a lioness. I protect and guard. I give fierce love. On good days I feel like royalty and generally I am comfortable with my strength and power. I have had many brave days where I face fears and challenges and with bravery I also know when to walk away. When I am me, I don’t lurk in shadows and I feel no shame to hide. Lionesses roar and well we all know I know how to do that on many levels. No matter the sound it all comes from a deep place of love. Actually come to think of it, I have a tattoo of a lion on my leg I had done when I was 19. Now sometimes I feel like a bunny or a bear and most recently a sloth so the above take with a grain of salt.

Now what is essence really?! Nature or quality that determines character? I don’t know that I have an answer for this. My voice is exactly that… my voice. I make art with it. It is my art. Now people listen and it causes them to feel something. To feel some kind of emotion that makes their body feel a certain way and even perhaps in that moment of listening, see a certain way. Those things are then projected back to me as that quality. You begin to hear reviews and friends and fans give a description of the essence of something that belongs to me. Nothing negative about that process and projections. Just the way it goes. The moment I call my essence something I have created a box for it. I don’t need a box for my voice. It can get tricky using it, creating with it and sharing it as is. Even in the deepest creative times, what comes out can be surprising, exciting, shocking, disappointing or even hard to accept. Its best I keep a no boundary policy or wind up locked down. That has happened before…that means no creating or sharing. I want to keep creating and sharing. I am most happy creating and sharing.

Name one muse that continues to inspire you?

Drez. I know cliche… He inspires me. No lie about that. Not because we are together and all the magic we create together but because of his incredible work ethic and passion for what he does. He really puts his whole heart into every piece of art. Every event he gives it all away. He lays it right down in front of you and you get to be the one who chooses to take it or leave it. Its mind-blowing that he hasn’t given up or wanted to quit. I see what he goes through and it isn’t all laughs and joy. It can be a painful process too. He has been raw to the bone before and over and over again to do what he loves. Through his dedication to his art he manages to somehow touch us all again and again. He has to make music. It is life.

What makes you feel Graceful and Victorious?

When I give and love I feel graceful and victorious. When I am creating and sharing I feel graceful and victorious. When I can flow through the day using clean words and patience I feel graceful and victorious. When I move and chant I feel graceful and victorious.

How do you wish listeners to feel when they hear your music?

This kind of ties in with the earlier essence question. It is too much for my brain and heart to wish for listeners to feel a certain thing while listening. That’s a set up for disappointment and heartbreak. Do I hope people like it? Enjoy it and feel it? YAASSS of course I do. I just can’t get into the details of a wish on how I want the sound to be interpreted. That isn’t something I can control and definitely not something you want to get caught up in while you are creating your art. OMG if I was worried while recording or writing I would be frozen with fear. I have experienced this in fact so I know it to be true. The artist is only responsible for the creating of the art and the possibility of sharing it. The interpretation falls on the viewer of said art.

What are your rituals in regards to the New Moon and Full Moon phases?

Occasionally I will write out intentions or write down ideas about what I see for myself and my family. I might go out and admire the fullness and beauty of a full moon or stand in the dark on the darkest nights without light and breathe. I don’t have regular serious rituals though. I am usually reminded that it is even happening because I saw a flash on instagram or an email about a moon event. I do see the massive movement that is happening around the world that revolves around ritual and moon cycles. What I love the most is the community of women and women creating community. This is so special. Women are strong and we need to be reminded of that but we also need to be reminded that we are not alone.

What is your current Mantra, Prayer or Affirmation that you pull up for support? (when you feel lack, depleted or low)

Om Mani Padme Hum I have used probably the most this year. It has just seemed appropriate. I have recently had to chant Saraswati’s name more regularly as well as various Krishna mantras. Mantra is a huge part of my living practice. To be clear no one mantra does it all for me. All the names of God are names that I chant. All of reality. All grace. All love.

What are you really excited about for 2017 and what were you grateful for in 2016?

I had a challenging start for 2016 and I was so grateful to have my husband, family and friends by my side to help me and support me. I am grateful everyday that I am still creating and sharing. I am excited to be releasing my next album with Drez in 2017 should all flow well and it looks like we are getting close. So so exciting!